Revolutionary War Convert
In 1866, artist Henry Brueckner painted The Prayer at Valley Forge. Not long after, engraver John C. McRae transformed it into a widely circulated print. The story and purpose that led to this painting has faded over the last several generations. I am of a generation that saw the painting but didn't know the story. I suspect some of the more recent generations have not encountered the painting.
The painting was about two people. It was, of course, about George Washington. It was also about a man named, Isaac Potts. Isaac is spying on Washington from behind a tree in the left side of the painting.
According to Blake McGready's article in the Journal of the American Revolution, it was a story created by Mason Locke Weems. (Who turns out to be my 7th great grand uncle through my mother's family.) Weems, was actively trying to foster religious tolerance within the country. The story may have had basis in truth, and it may have just been a tale intended to sway Quakers to the cause of freedom.
The tale is that Isaac a son of Jonathan Potts, the founder of Pottstown, PA and a leader in the birth of the iron industry in Pennsylvania - saw George Washington in prayer for God's intervention and guidance while encamped at Valley Forge and because of that, Isaac was turned toward supporting the American patriot cause.
The tale Weems wove is that Potts reported to his wife: “If George Washington be not a man of God, I am greatly deceived—and if God through him work not a great salvation for America, then it is evident that God has not intended that America shall be free.”
Weems' legend lived on and was captured in print by Brueckner. It in turn captured the psyche of a nation not unlike the movie, Sergeant York did during World War II.
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